Ekushey February

The events of 21st ('Ekushey' in Bangla) February 1952 - or 8 Falgun 1359 in Bangla calendar - would go on to dramatically alter history. Just three years into the creation of Pakistan, signs of discontent in the eastern wing were plain to see. And now, within five years lives would be lost in the course of political controversy. Bengal would never be the same again and it's history would change forever.

Police prepare for "planned attack" by students

The Police had anticipated that the hartal declared for the 21st February would soon lead to trouble in the University area and had made arrangements to face the emergency. By 7.30 am they had taken up their position according to the arrangements made previously. Siddique Dewan, the Deputy Superintendent, was positioned for duty in the University ground whilst Masood Mahmood, the Additional Superintendent of Police, went out on his rounds and visited the Police Outposts from the early morning.

The S.P. (Superintendent of Police) tried his best to dissuade the students from carrying on these activities but he found that his protests were not having any effect and as he anticipated trouble he stationed police in that particular area. At 9am at the University gate he had in position the D.S.P. (Deputy Superintendent of Police), one Inspector, 2 head constables and 20 constable of the S.A.F. (Special Armed Force), one Inspector, one Sub-Inspector, one Sergeant, 2 head constables and 14 constables armed with lathis. At the Medical College gate he had one head constable, and 10 constables of the S.A.F., and near the Salimullah Muslim Hall he had one head constable, and 10 constables who were armed.

Dhaka University's Vice Chancellor tries to calm situation

By 9 o'clock in the morning, thousands of students from different schools and colleges of Dhaka assembled at University of Dhaka premises in defiance of Section 144.

On that morning, the crowd increased, both in numbers and in intensity, sending out the clear feeling that a showdown was on the way. Room for compromise was conspicuous by its absence. And yet no one could imagine that the state would shoot its own children.

Shortly afterward Dr. S. M. Hossain and a few university teachers, including Dr. Zuberi and Dr. Ghani, requested the students not to violate the ban on assembly - but the student leaders gave a deaf ear to this request.

When the Vice-Chancellor approached the students whose number he estimated at 1,000 or so, at first they asked him to lead their procession in violation of the order. He proposed that they might hold a meeting, pass a resolution and then disperse. The students met this proposal with a request for him to give them a lead in the matter and preside over the meeting. He did not agree. But he said he was prepared to associate with them if they gave him a guarantee that they would behave peacefully and disperse peacefully after the meeting. The guarantee was never given though some of the leading students tried without success to prevail upon the general body of students. The Vice-Chancellor refused to accept the students' suggestion that he should act according to the decision of the meeting.

It was abundantly clear that the students were in no mood to listen to any reasonable suggestions and had obviously made up their minds to violate the orders under section 144 of the Code.

The officials addressed the students pleading with them to stop their "unlawful" business. The Vice-Chancellor told them "in a democratic country like Pakistan, everybody had a full right to express his opinion", but as true Pakistanis, he appealed to them not to break the law. He advised them to hold their meeting in the compound and pass resolutions if they wanted but they should not go out in a crowd as Section 144 was in operation in the city.

Hundreds of students and workers toiled immensely towards the preparation of meetings, processions and the final strike of February 21st and therefore were not ready to give up due to the fear of its consequences.

The students began to go out in the streets in small batches of 6, 8 and 10 at a time and voluntarily courted arrest by breaking Section 144. They climbed into police vehicles of their own accord and taken to the police stations.

The first group that came out for arrest was lead by Habibur Rahman Shelley (later Justice of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh). The second group to be arrested was led by Abdus Samad Azad, the third group was led by Anowarul Haq Khan, and the fourth group was led by Zafar Obaidullah Khan (later a Minister in Ershad's government, and an Ambassador). Finally, a procession of women came out that were also arrested.

Abdus Samad Azad(1922 - 2005) Bangladesh's first Foreign Minister (1972). Reappointed to the post in 1996 by Awami League. Elected to Jatiyo Sangshad five times from 1970 to 2001. President of the Muslim Student Federation of All - Asam in 1946. Jailed from 1975 to 1978 after Sheikh Mujib's assassination. Died of stomach cancer. Buried in Banani koborstan, Dhaka. Born in village of Bhurakhali, Sunamganj District, Sylhet.

In all 91 persons were arrested and by that time all available accommodation in the police vehicles had been filled up and the Police were in the embarrassing position of not being able to remove any more persons under arrest.

Sensing this embarrassment [of the police] the crowd became more truculent and began to throw brickbats at the Police. The Police had to make further arrangement in the disposition of their forces.

Some constables had to be sent in order to escort the students who had been arrested. The Additional S.P. [Superintendent of Police] was sent to the Assembly House in order to guard the same as it was reported that the students intended to stage a march on the Assembly House and a gas squad was brought to the University gate.

It may be noted that the principal objective of a violation of Section 144 was a march the students planned to the Legislative Assembly premises, where they would urge the lawmakers to present a forceful case for Bangla in the proceedings of the House. The difficulty they faced, though, was the increasingly high number of policemen on the campus. The dilemma was obvious: the students had to find a way of breaking through the police cordon and marching on. In the event, it was decided that they would break through the police presence in groups of 10.

However, the process of peaceful breaking of Section 144 did not continue for long. Soon, the streets were flooded with hundreds of students protesting for their civil rights for the establishment of their mother language.

Gas attack by police

After the voluntary arrest of the 91 students there was a general rush from the University compound. By noon students from various institutions in Dhaka gathered and protested with slogans such as "Rastro basha Bangla chai" (We want Bangla as National language)... "Cholo cholo assembly cholo" (Let's go to the assembly)..."Police Zulum Chalbe Na" (We won't accept police brutality)..."We will disobey Section 144".

By this time the situation was getting out of control. Police fired tear gas shells towards the gate to warn the students and disperse the students by firing blanks. A section of students ran into the Dhaka Medical College Hospital while others rallied towards the university premises blocked by police lines. The ensuing riot spread to the nearby campuses of the Medical and Engineering colleges. The vice-chancellor asked police to stop firing and ordered the students to leave the area but to no avail. More armed police and para-military forces was bought in to subdue the lively crowd. They started wide-spread tear gas shelling, throwing gas grenades and clubbing – even female students. The result of the gas attack was that the students scattered only to reassemble in the Medical College area and on the other side of the Secretariat Road in the University playground.

Gaziul Huq was one of many students who was most affected during the police gas attack. One of the shells hit him and he became unconscious.

To scatter the students, the police charged into the faculty premises, firing rounds of teargas shells and beating whoever came their way. The air was thick with eye-stinging teargas. One of the shells hit Gazi Bhai. He lost consciousness. The intensity of the gas must have contributed to this. A group of students carried him to the second floor of the faculty building. There he was doused with water. Soon he came round. I am witness to all this. It has sometimes been said that his losing of consciousness was a sham or, at best an exaggeration. To those of us who were very near him at the moment, neither was true.

"Cholo cholo assembly cholo" - student halt ministers

The students remembered that the budget session of East Bengal Legislative Assembly was scheduled to start soon and decided to prevent the ministers from reaching the Assembly Hall (at present, part of Jagannath Hall, University of Dhaka).

Keeping in mind their objective to proceed towards the East Bengal Legislative Assembly Hall which was in session at 3.20 pm, the agitated students tried to clear their path by continuing to brick the police. This resulted in number of casualties including injuries to Deputy Inspector-General, the District Magistrate, the Superintendent of Police and the Additional Superintendent of Police. As the situation intensified, District Magistrate Qureshi ordered the police to open fire.

I cannot part with this enquiry without recording the astonishment with which I learned that the East Bengal Police Force is not equipped with steel helmets and has only a few ancient A.R.P. helmets to draw on. It seems incredible that a force required to maintain law and order should have to take up "action stations" wearing cloth caps and stand its ground under showers of brickbats, stones and similar weapons, and Dacca, in its present state of constructional activity, presents potential law-breakers with a veritable arsenal of ammunition. Had the Police force under Mr.Idris been properly equipped, it is more than probable there would never have been any occasion for this enquiry.

The situation was grave and the agitators came from all directions and brickbats come like showers and we had no place to take shelter and many police officers including constables were Injured. The situation was so grave that the D.M. [District Magistrate of Dhaka, S. H. Qureshi] passed to open fire.

Firing was done under my command. I put my men in position and formed them in flanks of 5 men each facing the university ground corner and Medical College Hostel side. I ordered my men on both flanks to fire one round each. They did so. The crowd near the University playground, at the corner of the University playground—was held back and I found one man dropping down there, but the crowd from the Medical College Hostel side fell back momentarily and again advanced towards us with heavy showers of brickbats.

I ordered the 5 men in the flank to fire a volley of rounds. Then I ordered them to stop as soon as I saw this mob falling back. I ordered cease fire and then checked up ammunitions and found that in all 27 rounds were fired.

In a 30-minutes blitz, which started at 3.20 pm and ended at 3.50 pm, one language demonstrator after another started falling on the ground in front of the Dhaka Medical College Hostel, with blood spilling from their bodies.

The police and para-military forces resorted to wide-spread tear gas shelling, clubbing, and finally shooting. As a result, several students were killed, hundreds were injured, and thousands were arrested. A reign of terror was let loose by the government but the language movement did not stop. The students killed were declared martyrs (shohid) as they had laid down their lives for their beloved mother tongue.

In the police encounter, the bloodstained body of Abul Barkat, a student of MA class at Dhaka University, collapsed on the ground. He was followed by Muhammad Salahuddin, a fellow student, who lost the skull of his head. Other known shaheeds (martyrs) are Abdul Jabbar, a tailor who had come from Gaffargaon, Mymensingh, to tend to a relative in hospital, Rafiquddin Ahmed, then a student of Debendra College in Manikganj, and Abdus Salam, a peon in an office. Salam would die from his injuries a few days after Ekushey February.

The official version, given in a government circular and in the statement of the Chief Minister Nurul Amin on the floor of the provincial legislature was that the students used 'filthy language' to policemen, attacked vehicles, and forced shopkeepers to close their shops. It also stated that they threw brickbats at the police, injuring some policemen. The District Magistrate finally ordered the police to open fire. Even then, the crowd did not disperse but attacked the police. Thereupon, 'some more rounds were fired', killing one and injuring nine people. Three of the injured died later.

Those killed are considered the first shaheed (martyrs, pronounced 'shohid') of Bangladesh. It was the first time in history that a nation had to shed blood for the right to speak their native language.

The state made swift work of concealing their bodies. The bodies of those killed were not given to their families. The security forces had them buried in the eerie silence of night descending on the province after a day of tragedy.

A reign of terror was let loose by the government but the language movement did not stop. By noon, Dhaka Central Jail was full to capacity with arrested students and the remaining prisoners were taken by bus to a Jungle (Bhawal Jungle) and left there.

Abdus Salam() Staff member of the industrial directorate who died on 7 April 1952 after sustaining fatal injuries during Ekushey February. Father, Fajil Mia, and mother, Dauluter Nessa, passed away before witnessing their son’s national honour in independent Bangladesh

Rafiq Uddin Ahmed() A student of Debendra College, Manikganj, shot dead by Pakistani police during Ekushey February. Eldest son of Abdul Latif Miyan and Rafiza Khatun. Well-known in Manikganj, since his childhood, as a social worker with passion for music and theatre. Rafique’s dead body, later snatched by the Pakistani commandos, was buried at the Azimpur Graveyard. However, grave was lost and could not be identified later. Thus every year, thousands of his fellow countrymen pay their respect to him at the Azimpur grave yard. Born in village of Paril, Manikganj district.

Abdul Jabbar() a young farmer from gaffargaon, killed during Ekushey February. In February 1952, Jabbar’s mother-in-law fell ill so for better treatment Jabbar took her to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.Carried the banner during Ekushey February and when the police opened fire, he was one of the first to fall. Left behind a son, who was just 15-months-old at the time, his wife Amina Khatun, aging father and mother. Born in village of Pachua, Mymensingh.

Mohammad Salauddin() a bank employee, was injured in the firing and died in hospital later

Abdul Awal() Rickshaw driver who died under a police truck, used to dissolve the funeral procession of the martyrs of the language movement on the night of Ekushey February.

Abul Barkat(1927 - 1952) MA final year student of the department of political science of Dhaka University, shot dead during Ekushey February. Achieved 4th position at the Honours final examinations from the same department. Eldest son of Shamsuzzhoha. Killed at age of 26. Born in village of Babla, Murshidabad district in India.

From this moment onward, Ekushey February would be known as 'Shaheed Dibosh' (Day of Martyrs) and become the symbol of Bengali nationalism and then secession.

The students lost lives for the future generation to sing with delight: Moder gorob, moder aasha A'mori Bangla basha.

Chief Minister Nurul Amin ignores the wounded

The same (Ekushey) evening, the Legislative Assembly held one of the stormiest sessions of its life. Nurul Amin defended the government, while Dhirendranath Datta, Maulana Abdur Rashid Tarkabagish, Khairat Hossain and Shamsuddin Ahmed opposed it vociferously. Six opposition members including Manoranjan Dhar, Boshontokumar Das, Shamsuddin Ahmed and Dhirendranath Datta requested that chief minister Nurul Amin visit wounded students in hospital and that the assembly be adjourned as a sign of mourning. This motion was supported by some of the treasury bench members including Maulana Abdur Rashid Tarkabagish, Shorfuddin Ahmed, Shamsuddin Ahmed Khondokar and Mosihuddin Ahmed. However, Nurul Amin refused the requests and urged the House to proceed with the planned agenda for the day. At this, all the opposition members of the Assembly simply walked out in protest.

For its part, the government, through press statements, stayed busy trying to demonise the students.

As a press note reported: "On the Nawabpur Road another unruly crowd overpowered the police officers in charge of the forces … Since it would not disperse, firing was resorted to in order to disperse it. A lathi charge was also made in the university area".

The authorities went to every extent possible to paint the students in dark colours. It even reported that Hasan Ali, the minister for communications, had been injured as a result of student violence.

Maulana Abdur Rashid Tarkabagish() Pioneer of the historic Salanga movement against British colonial role in the subcontinent and he played an outstanding role in abolishing zamindari system, formulation of loan arbitration board and sharecropping system. First to deliver speech in Bangla language at Gono Parishad at Karachi in Pakistan in 1955. In 2007 Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) renamed Dhanmondi Road No. 5 after Abdur Rashid Tarkabagish and Dhanmondi Road No. 6 after Abul Kalam Shamsuddin in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the Language Movement.

Shamsuddin Ahmed()

Manoranjan Dhar()

Boshontokumar Das()

Shorfuddin Ahmed()

Shamsuddin Ahmed Khondokar()

Mosihuddin Ahmed()

More uproar and construction of first Shaheed Minar follows

The students held a condolence meeting at which Abul Kalam Shamsuddin, a member of the East Bengal Legislative Assembly and editor of the Daily Azad newspaper, delivered a speech, and a monument (Shaheed Minar) was hurriedly erected in honour of the martyred victims. The students again clashed with the police who demolished their minar.

To bring the situation under control, the government announced curfew in the evening and deployed the army in Dhaka. In response, with a view to providing the Language Movement with more efficient leadership, the "All Party State Language Action Committee" was reformed and a whole day strike, Gayebana Zanaza (Prayer for the deportees) and procession was announced for February 22nd. For subsequent 3 to 4 days Dhaka turned into a city of demonstrations and processions by thousands and lakhs of people chanting angry slogans against police atrocities, although curfew was still in force. Shops stayed closed and no vehicles were seen on the streets of Dhaka. Railway workers stayed away from work, which meant that trains did not leave Dhaka or enter it. Clashes between citizens and the police were reported from various parts of the city. Despite a heavy presence of police and soldiers on the streets, thousands of Bangalis poured out to condemn the government over the killings of February 21. Women students of Dhaka University, besides their male fellow students, came together to condemn what they called the barbaric act of the government. On the whole, the students demanded the resignation of the chief minister Nurul Amin.